New Found Freedom
by NoProfessional
Summary: Troy wears ties to school, won't go to parties, and is controlled by his girlfriend. He can't help but feel like he's missing out on his senior year. When free spirit Gabriella Montez comes into the picture, will he begin to live Disclaimer: I own nothin.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Wrong" repeated Ms. Darbus, at another one of Jason Cross' 'feeble attempts at redeeming himself'.

The rest of the class giggled or chuckled. I stayed quiet. I was so over this school. I straightened my tie, yes my tie. I dress pretty professionally for a high school senior. Hey, dress to impress my girlfriend always does say, you never know who's watching. My girlfriend, Trish, and I are the only level-headed, future conscious, intelligent people in our school. It's sad, but you learn to get used to it. I mean on a plus side, my friends aren't complete morons. They're actually pretty cool; they'd be cooler if they didn't go on about me and Trish so much. They hate her, and hey, she's not the easiest person to get along with, but I like her.

Just then the bell rung, "Ok students, thus concludes our time together for now" announced Ms. Darbus, even though I'm preeeeeetty sure no one was paying attention.

* * *

><p>"So dude, we hittin' up that cert on Saturday?" asked Chad.<p>

"Umm, sorry, what?" I replied completely lost. "Ugh…_Con_cert" he amended. He was my best friend and he knew how 'urbanely-challenged' I was, and translated. "What concert? I wasn't notified of any concert? When was this discussed?"

Everyone in our group, which consisted of Me, Chad, Zeke, and Jason, stopped in their tracks and turned to look at me. "Dude…" said Jason, he was pretty dense. "Man you need to loosen up some, Bolton, you're wound too tight!" added Zeke. "I wonder why" mumbled Chad.

Here we go again. "Hey!" I said "watch it!" "Look, dude, he's right you need to dump the dragon-lady and get with a chick who actually _has_ a personality" said Jason.

"Excuse me?" I said, daring him to say that again. "Here, let me translate" Chad said jokingly while slapping me on the back "You need to…_procure_ a girl who…_stimulates_ you, if you know what I mean" he added with a wink. Jason couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at that, and I even noticed Zeke silently vibrating at Chad's _hilarious_ comment. Whatever, I don't care.

I sighed heavily. "Who's playing?" I asked, composing myself, no need to degrade myself. "Ehh, who knows, who cares, some underground shit band." said Chad.

I was confused. "Why are we going to listen to a shitty band?" I asked, earning me disapproving groan from the group. Zeke took the liberty of explaining.

"Chicks, Troy. You know...women, females, ladies, humans with two X chromosomes? You know believe it or not they enjoy music, so they would attend a concert, to hear this music" "Yeah and we go to lay waste to the single ones!" added Jason, a bit too loud for my taste. Ever the charmer that one. I opened my mouth to give my response, already knowing the reaction I'd get. "Fine, but I need to check with Trish first"

"OKAY, THAT'S IT!" shouted Chad, gaining the a few side glances by other students nearby. "Dude, you're 17, you shouldn't have to tell your girlfriend what you're doing, where you're going, and who you're with at all times, my parents have been together 18 years and my dad doesn't even do that shit! What happened to the Troy who wore T-shirts, ate junk food, and watched MTV? _That_ Troy has been my best friend since kindergarten, and I would kinda like to get him back!"

I couldn't even argue with him though, he was right. I have changed, for better or worse yet I don't know. I didn't really feel like arguing with him. "You're right, man. I'll be there." I surrendered, and Chad visibly calmed down. "Thank you" Chad said. "That was very poetic, dude" added Jason.

"Well I'm going to head to class now" I lied, I really just needed to go meet up with Trish, she texted me demanding my presence about 3 minutes ago, it must be urgent "I'll see you guys later." I said before swiftly walking away.

_Now how to Trish about the concert?_

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><p>I ducked around a couple corners until I reached Trish's locker "Hey" I said, and then I went for a kiss, but she quickly ducked away "what's wrong?" I asked.<p>

She scoffed, and then said "Student Conduct states that any form of PDA is strictly prohibited, I don't need a mark on my records, Troy" I looked around and saw that we were mostly secluded except for some lower classmen. "You sure you couldn't make an exception, not even for me?" I asked, pulling gently on her cardigan, but she just gave me her famous and I took the hint.

"Ok...so what's up?" I asked her, trying to lighten her mood, she took a deep breathe then began "Ok, so you know how we planned out our ranking? You would be valedictorian and I'd be second or vice versa?" she questioned, but didn't give me a chance to answer.

"Well..." she continued "Ms. Shultz tipped me off that apparently East High will be receiving some new students and one of them, a girl I believe, is 'threateningly intelligent'!" Then she really went off, and I just feigned interest, honestly I could care less about ranking, but I would never let her know that "Threateningly intelligent! Those were her EXACT words! What could she even have meant by that?"

"I have no idea, you know Ms. S, she talks in riddles" I said, attempting to cheer her up before I dropped the 'concert' bomb "So...I've been meaning to tell you-"

"THREATENINGLY INTELLIGENT, TROY! HOW ARE YOU _NOT_ FREAKING OUT!" she shouted, effectively cutting me off and making the nearby students look at us. In my opinion she was just over-reacting, which she does a lot, and it was up to me to calm her down. Cue the pep-talk.

"Look, Trish, you're the smartest person I know, and you know Ms. S doesn't exactly like you, she was probably just messing with you. Don't let her distract you from your goal." I said, sounding very fortune cookie like"

I saw her visibly thinking over what I said. She thinks everything over. "You're right sweet heart" she said, then she surveyed her surrounding and quickly placed a tiny peck to my cheek, "thank you." she ended off with and began to walk away, then came back, "Wait, what were you going to say?" she asked me.

I considered telling the truth, I really did, but she was already freaking out over this new student thing so, a lie felt natural. "My grandparents are celebrating an anniversary" I said "it's this Saturday, and I know you have your mock trial that day, but my parents really want me to come so..." I trailed off. She was into politics and in the Future Leaders of America club at our school. She wanted me to join, but I have basketball filling most of my time, which she hated, but then I reminded her how good it looked on a college application. I left out the part about me really enjoying it.

"Oh, ok, that's fine" she replied, and then left for the second time, leaving me standing alone by her locker. This could actually be working.

* * *

><p><strong>Gabriella's POV<strong>

"Mom I can't find my cell phone charger! Do you have it?"

I hate this. I absolutely HATE this! Moving, or as my always bubbly mother put it _'relocating'_. Same fucking thing! Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a change of scenery, some may say it's needed every once in a while. _Every once in a while_ being the key phrase. I love my mother, she's great, but what I strongly dislike, with a burning passion, is her job. She's a business woman. Pays well, nice health benefits, alright co-workers, but the constant transferring made me want to blow my fucking brains out.

We're now in New Mexico...Albuquerque to be exact. I was born in Detroit, Michigan (lived there for 4 years), then came Miami, Florida (3 years there), followed by Athens, Georgia (resided there for 3 years), and New York, where we stayed the longest, 8 years.

The _'we'_ I keep referring to is me, my mother, and my younger brother Adam, who is 6. No dad in the picture, and there's a long story behind that, but I'm way to fucking tired to go through it. Oh! I forgot someone very important, by best friend Ananleigh. She lives with us and legally is under my mother's custody. Again, another long, depressing story, but I've known her for what seems like forever and she's practically my sister, same age and everything.

"MOM!" I yelled from my _newest _new room. It was pretty big, but bare and it didn't feel like anything. It just feels like emptiness, completely un-welcoming, and as Analeigh would put it 'dire fucking need of serious remodeling'...we're pretty similar.

Nothing. No response, which pissed me off to the point where I stormed out of my room and into the hallway and when I was about to produce the mother of all screams, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to my best friend dangling my white charger right between my eyes. Then a short silence passed through us both before we collapsed in laughter. About ten minutes later, our tears had dried and our breathing returned to normal.

"She's on the phone, apparently we're moving again" Analeigh stated with a sigh "shame, I was beginning to enjoy this place." I swear, she will win an oscar one day, she has to.

"Haha, very funny Ana, sleep with one eye open tonight bitch!" I said, while I playfully slapped her on the shoulder. "So..." she started "Albuquerque, how you liking it here, kid?"

"Ehh, same ol' song and dance for me, you?" I asked, I genuinely cared. I was always careful of Analeigh's feelings, ever since our little 'mishap' last year. "It's alright, kinda nice and peaceful...but according to your darling mother, we qualify for two high schools in the area, due to our location right in the middle."

"Umm..." I thought this over, in all my life and all of my abandoning old homes for new ones, this had never happened. I was intrigued. "What are our choices?" I asked.

"East High and West High" she paused "In my opinion I'd go with East." "Why?" I asked, her smile faded slightly and she sighed, looked away, and began to speak, but I cut her off.

"You know what, I agree. East it is! That was what I was going to say anyway" I said swiftly, lying. I was going to chose West, but whatever. Then I smiled, scooped up my charger and walked back to room and counted the steps in my head. 6 steps.

I layed on my bed for what felt like the first time and just stared at the ceiling. I felt myself slowly succumbing to sleep when there was a knock on the door and fast foot steps and a new weight on my stomach. There was only on explanation; Adam.

"Yes Adam?" I asked, not really up to the usual sibling banter that occurs between me and my baby brother, but another voice spoke up from the door. "Hey sweetie, how ya adjusting to your new digs?" I heard my mom's voice say, trying to use younger terminology, which she's been doing ever since Analeigh bought her _Hip Lingo for Parents: Vol. 7_ for Mother's Day last year.

"Mom, do me and you a favor and spare me the youthful vernacular tonight, I'm exhausted." I said, wishing I could just sleep until I'm dead. I heard her clear her voice and begin again "I understand, which is why I bought you and Leigha concert tickets, to help you get more...involved with your surroundings".

"Who's playin-" I was about to ask when I was cut off by a highly enthusiastic voice entering my room. "ONLY THE BEST BAND IN HISTORY...Honestly Ella, you call yourself a connoisseur of the arts." Analeigh interrupted. I smiled, watching her get all worked up was refreshing, it made my room feel like something. "They're amazing, I feel like all of there songs embody me completely, and..." I stopped listening and just thought. I thought about this new place, East High, this concert where I'll be holding Ana back from jumping on stage and molesting whoever the fuck is playing.

Then I noticed me falling to sleep again, Analeigh's rambling was really soothing to me I guess, and I noticed my mother and Adam vanish from the room.

Then all sound vanished from the room.

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><p><strong>What do you think?<strong>

Should I continue...feedback would be greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

**Gabriella's POV**

I woke up to my plain white walls, the sound of Analeigh singing in the shower, and the aroma of cinnamon pancakes. It was a sunny Friday morning and Ana and I had the choice to start school today, but we opted to start on Monday, truth is we were just being lazy.

I heard the water stop in the bathroom down the hall and counted the seconds until Analeigh would poke her head in my door. It was like a routine, she would always greet me in the morning by knocking on my door twice then slowly her head would enter my room. It used to upset me, water droplets would leak from her long dirty blonde hair and sometimes she even woke me up, but you learn to tolerate and even enjoy her antics.

Like clockwork, I heard her knocking then saw her face.

"Morning Ella Bella!" she called. I groaned, still semi-asleep.

She laughed then asked "And how are we feeling this fine Thursday morning?"

"It's Friday Analeigh" I said, but I knew she knew what day it was, she just said that to elicit a response from me, she would say the weirdest things to get a rise out of me in the morning. She was an 'early bird' and I had no tolerance for the sun.

"Your mom made a fucking feast this morning, and I'd hate to see you starve. You know how I eat!" was the last thing she said before leaving my room. Then I just stared at the white walls for a few more minutes.

* * *

><p><strong>Troy's POV<strong>

My alarm sounded crisply at 5 am. I remember when my mother used to wake me up, but I relieved her of that duty when Trish and I (mostly Trish) decided now would be a good time to start being 'self-sufficient' and depend less on our parents.

But I hated my alarm clock, who wants to start every day with a mini heart attack? My mom was more soothing and loving, but whatever, it wasn't a big deal to me.

It was Friday so it was acceptable to dress a bit more casually, so I just wore a beige sweatshirt, some slacks, and dark dress shoes. I was headed downstairs to eat breakfast when my phone buzzed, notifying me of a new text message, which read

"Got the profile on the new students! Meet me my locker in 1 hr."

It was from Trish. I was racking my brain for the easiest way to let her know I couldn't care less about the new students when my phone buzzed again. This time a message from Chad, and it read

"Crisis. Code Red. My House."

Simple and to the point, much like Chad was. So you see where my dilemma lies. If I don't meet Trish, she'll assume I'm breaking up with her, which she does a lot. If I blow off Chad he'll throw a hissy fit about how I'm "neglecting the bros" which _he_ does a lot. I just wish there was one person in the world who didn't expect so much from me, someone who would understand that I'm just one person.

Ultimately, I decided to meet up with Chad at his house and hoped to God that whatever this 'crisis' was about wouldn't last longer than an hour, no reason I couldn't try to meet up with the both of them.

In my head I honestly thought I could make time for the both of them, honestly I did.

I didn't know then how wrong I was.

* * *

><p><strong>Gabriella's POV<strong>

I sat at the brand new glass dining table surrounded by more white walls. I don't know why but they're really starting to get on my fucking nerves.

Anyway, Analeigh sat directly to my left and my brother across from me, they were chatting about something Adam had seen on TV last night. He was all worked up and I could tell Ana didn't give shit about what he was saying, but she was really good at humoring people.

"…and then a huge dinosaur came and was like _ROAR_! And the little boy was trying to run away with the old guy, but the mean old Dino kept on chasing him and roaring so I guess he was hungry and…" was the only part I really heard of his fascinating recap of Jurassic Park.

Analeigh would just casually nod and once in a while she'd say something like "really?" and "That's so cool!"

Then my mom emerged from the kitchen carrying a huge platter of pancakes, another of eggs, and a third holding bacon. My mom used to be a waitress in Detroit to 'put food on the table', that was before she was a business woman. Who would've guessed?

"Adam what did I tell about watching scary movies before bed time?" she asked sternly.

"It wasn't scary mommy, I promise and Leigha watched it with me" he supplied, and my mother looked to her from confirmation and Ana swiftly nodded her head.

The fact that Adam and Analeigh's relationship was a tiny bit stronger than mine and Adam's used to bother me, but it doesn't any more.

I mean, you would think she was his older sister if it weren't for the fact that Adam, my mother, and I had the same features: dark hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. Analeigh's blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin made her stick out like a sore thumb. If it did bother her, she hid it well.

15 minutes into the breakfast, my mother instructed us to take Adam to a nearby park she had seen on her way to work the other day. I was reluctant to go, but Analeigh really wanted to go, so I agreed.

20 minutes after that, we were on our way down a road we'd never been on, on our quest to find this magical park. I had on headphone in and Adam was on Ana's back while she and I talked about anything and everything that popped into our heads.

* * *

><p><strong>Troy's POV<strong>

I had to change out of my dress pants and put on a pair of sweats and sneakers in order to run to Chad's house. It was preeeeeetty far but I'm in shape so I was there in about an hour and 12 minutes, Trish was going to flip!

I was welcomed by Chad, Jason, and Zeke, relaxing on Chad's porch, drinking lemonade and chatting. Now I don't usually curse but WHAT THE HELL?

"Bolton!" Chad called "you made it, man! Now the fun can begin! Someone get this man a glass of my famous homemade lemonade." He said.

I was fuming "Where's the crisis!" I asked angrily. Then Jason spoke up.

"Crisis? There's no crisis, just four buddies playing a little hooky together, glad you could make it, Chad thought you'd bail" he said.

This was ridiculous, and I guess my friends noticed how pissed I was because they all turned to Chad to say something, so I guessed it was his idea.

"Look, Troy we-"he began to say, but I cut him off, something I rarely ever did to anybody.

"NO! You mean to tell me that there is NO crisis, AND you want me to cut school?" I asked, well, screamed.

Chad just nodded his head.

"No! No way I'm missing school! Look, you've done some mean stuff in the past but this was just plain stupid? Why do you even want to cut school? Don't you guys care about-" I said but was interrupted.

"School" said Chad.

"Grades" mocked Jason.

"Learning" added Zeke.

I stayed quiet, and then Chad rose from his spot on the porch and moved so he was about 2 feet away from me.

"Here's how I see it, you haven't missed a day in like, 2 years, your dad is cool and he'd cover for us, and most importantly, you already missed homeroom and half of first period" he said.

I checked my wrist watch and saw that he was right, it was 9:45!

I just looked at him for a long time, then I looked at Jason and Zeke behind him, then back to him, and I looked at the sweatpants and sneakers I had worn for the first time in months.

Then I thought about what he said to me yesterday in the hall, and put it all together. I guess they really did miss me, and I can admit I did change a little.

"So…" I started "if I were to agree to this heinous plan, what exactly would we do?" I questioned actually beginning to consider this.

"I don't know maybe hit the mall, or better yet the park! You know it'd be just like old times!" Chad explained.

"Yeah, I mean, you are already here." piped Zeke from behind.

"Yeah and only one condition, you can't use words like 'heinous." said Jason.

"So…you in?" asked Chad.

I swear, I don't even remember agreeing, and I don't even remember the walk to the park. I didn't even remember my prior engagement with Trish. Looking back, all I _can_ remember about that day is the girl I met at the park that day; the girl with the torn Rolling Stones shirt and the big brown eyes.

I remembered the conversations we had and how different she was from Trish. Her long almost black hair looked soft and welcoming, and Trish's short blonde bob looked and _felt_ stiff and strong. _Her_ tan skin could run laps around Trish's pale complexion, and _her_ voice was friendly and nurturing. Trish's was a little soft at most.

All these features I had memorized as if I were preparing for an exam. The only question I'd get wrong would be the one asking for her name.

Because I never caught it.

* * *

><p><strong>**Hoped you enjoyed it, and thanks for all the constructive criticism and all the reviews!<strong>

*****Oh and this is very important:**

**Should I write their meeting at the park, or just go further into the plot and use flashbacks I can't decide? Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.**


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